Burnham's San Diego campus at 10900 N. Torrey Pines Road consists of 9 buildings, including a central mechanical building and a parking structure.  Five of the nine buildings, comprising 89% of the total enclosed square footage, are laboratory buildings.  The facilities were constructed in three stages beginning in 1975, added to in 1994, and completed during year 2000.

In 2008 Burnham decided to pursue LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance on their San Diego Campus.  Within this Rating System projects are evaluated and certified by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). For evaluation, LEED uses six environmental categories:  Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation in Design.  In December of 2009, the San Diego Campus achieved the Certified level within the LEED-EB Operations and Maintenance Rating System. 

Due to the Rating System’s emphasis on improving operations to incorporate increased environmental performance, Burnham created multiple Plans and Policies including; Building Exterior and Hardscape Management, Sustainable Purchasing, Solid Waste Management, Green Cleaning and Indoor Pest Management to help assist in the tracking and documenting process.  The project team, including the Facilities Department and Purchasing Department, began tracking and documenting their progress in credits previously identified in the Preliminary review as appropriate to pursue. 

Burnham achieved nine points under the Sustainable Purchasing Program documenting that over 70% of their Ongoing Consumables contain recycled content and 60% of the Electric Equipment purchased is either Energy Star Labeled or EPEAT-Rated.  Nine points were also achieved within the Green Cleaning credits.  Strategies such as installing Entryway Systems at all Building entrances and purchasing Sustainable Cleaning Products and Materials were part of these nine points.  Burnham already had an impressive Campus recycling program including separation on site and was able to achieve multiple points using newly created tracking procedures. 

Outside of the recently created Plan and Policies Burnham was able to achieve seventeen points by documenting good green procedures already implemented on their Campus.  Nine points were achieved under the Water Efficiency category.  Four points were achieved for already having drought tolerant plants, efficient irrigation and using recycled water within their existing landscaping.  Three points were earned under Indoor Plumbing Fixture and Fitting Efficiency by documenting water savings achieved by previously installed 1.1/1.6 gallons per flush dual flush toilets, waterless urinals and 0.5 gallons per minute motion sensor faucets.  Burnham recognizes the importance of good indoor air quality and was able to achieve the Prerequisite and a couple of points under the Indoor Air Quality section by installing  MERV 13 Filters in all outside air intakes and inside air recirculation returns  and by exceeding the minimum outside air requirement of all spaces by at least 30%. 

During the past 3 years, Burnham Institute for Medical Research has shown tremendous leadership in reducing energy usage.  Current year total source energy usage has been reduced by 26.6% compared to the 2004-2006 three year period.  This was accomplished by an aggressive energy management program and major capital expenditures to upgrade central plant efficiency.  By using historic energy data, Burnham was able to document that they are 23 percentile points above the National Average achieving four points within the Energy & Atmosphere category.    

The team agreed upon a rigorous schedule consisting of a one month audit and verification phase, a one month strategy and implementation phase and the minimum 3 month Performance Period.  The process started in January 2009 and was submitted to the USGBC for review in August of 2009.  This fast paced schedule could not have been achieved without the help of Burnham’s Staff and Sub Contractors. 

Project Team Members:

Burnham

David Hassell, Director of Facilities

John M. Reed, Maintenance Manager

Jeanette Sansom, Director of Procurement & Materials Operations

Todd Baase, Senior Maintenance Mechanic

Mark Sullivan, Senior Maintenance Mechanic

Matt McGreevy, Facility Manager

Consultants

David McKinley, Center for Sustainable Energy

Keith Schneringer, WAXIE Sanitary Supply

Heather Irgens, Long Life Lighting, Inc.

Robert Garcia, Express Waste & Recycling

Adam Ziegler, Pegasus Building Service

Mark Stewart, Lloyd Pest Control

Cheryl LaCombe, Drew George & Partners

Discover PB Offices

1503 Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA‎ 92109

Project Team

Sustainable Sites

• The Vista Fire Station #6 was built on an environmentally-preferable site: The site is not considered prime farmland, habitat for threatened or endangered species, within 100 feet of any wetlands or public parkland. 
• The site for this project is within a half mile of 10 basic services, such as restaurants, fitness center, bank, health care, library, park, etc. The close proximity makes it easy for occupants to walk to services.
• To encourage the use of public transportation, the project is located less than 1/4 mile from 3 bus lines.
• To encourage the use of non-motorized vehicles, bicycle storage and 4 showers are provided for building occupant who chose this method of transportation.
• The project has provided priority parking spaces for fuel efficient and low emitting vehicles. Low emitting and fuel efficient vehicles are defined as vehicles that have achieved a minimum green score of 40 on the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) annual vehicle rating.
• The stormwater management plan was designed to reduce stormwater runoff by 25%. On-site treatment is provided by bioswales and pervious pavement. 
• To reduce heat island effect, 85% of the hardscape selected had a Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) value of 35.
• The building’s roof features a membrane which has a Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) of 48 on a slope of 3:12. This exceeds the minimum SRI value of 29. This means that the roof will reflect a greater amount of the sun’s rays than a traditional roof, which decreases the amount of energy required to cool the building.

• The landscaped area is irrigated by a high-efficiency irrigation system, contains drought tolerant plants, and includes an automatic irrigation system utilizing dual or multiple program controllers, to maximize the water efficiency. The above irrigation plan has an annual water savings of over 50%.
• Water usage inside the building will be reduced by over 35% by using dual-flush toilets, low flow urinals and sensor activated low flow lavatories. A total annual savings of approximately 112,000 gallons of water were saved inside by utilizing the above technology.

• The project was designed to be even more efficient then California Title 24 standards.
• To minimize the negative impacts associated with conditioning the interior of the building, an energy efficient HVAC system was selected, which will utilize refrigerants that minimize the emission of compounds that contribute to ozone depletion and global warming.
• Achieving an energy efficient building was accomplished by specifying high performance glazing and mechanical systems, incorporating significant daylighting and performing fundamental building commissioning.

• The building includes an easily accessible area for the collection and storage of recyclables: paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastics, and metals.
• Construction sites can produce a large amount of waste, but this project diverted over 75% construction waste materials, measured by weight, from the landfill by utilizing EDCO’s construction and demolition recycling facility.
• The project also made a point to use materials that contain recycled content, thus reducing the impacts on the environment that are a result of extracting and processing newly harvested materials. Over 20% of the building materials for the Vista Fire Station come from post and pre-consumer recycled material.

• The Vista Fire Station provides optimum Indoor Air Quality.  Starting with keeping the project clean, dry and smoke free during construction, completing a building flush out before occupancy and utilizing low-emitting materials such as adhesives, sealants and paints.
• The building has both mechanical ventilated zones and naturally ventilated zones. All zones provide more than adequate outside air quantities for optimal indoor air quality.
• To increase lighting efficiency, as well as occupant comfort and preference, individual lighting controls were implemented for at least 90% of the building occupants. Also, lighting system controllability was provided for all shared multi-occupant spaces to enable lighting adjustment that meets group needs and preferences.

Innovation in Design

• Innovation in Design credit was received for achieving a 50% increase over local code for vegetated open space.  

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Water Efficiency

• Trees and shrubs have been selected for their compatibility to the area, to provide shade and to minimize the need for water. A high efficiency irrigation system utilizes a controller that adjusts itself to the local weather.
• High efficiency plumbing fixtures reduce water consumption by over 40% as compared to a standard building. High efficiency fixtures reduce the amount of electricity used.

• Zero use of CFC-based refrigerants in new building. 
• Provide at least 50% of the building's electricity from renewable sources by engaging in at least a two-year renewable energy contract, or purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates.

Materials & Resources

• Over 75% of the construction waste will be recycled and diverted from landfills.
• A high percentage of new construction materials will be from recycled content.

Indoor Environmental Quality:

• Daylight and Views - The orientation of the complex was designed to maximize both daylight and views to the outside. Daylight will be available to 90% of the space, which increases user comfort and reduces the need for artificial lighting. Views to the outdoors will be available for 95% of the spaces, improving user comfort and productivity. 
• Indoor air quality is optimized through the use of natural ventilation, carbon dioxide monitors, low chemical-emitting materials and finishes, and walk-off mats to control dirt from entering the building.

Innovation in Design

• A sustainable education program will be implemented so that building itself can be used as a teaching tool on the benefits of sustainable design.